Avram Grant: Former Chelsea manager accused of sexual harassment

Grant managed Chelsea, Portsmouth and West Ham in the Premier League

Grant managed Chelsea, among other Premier League teams (Getty Images)

Former Chelsea manager Avram Grant has been accused of sexual harassment by several women.

Grant, whose spell at the Blues shot him to fame in 2007, is said to have used his position of power to try and coerce women into having sex with him. The claims were revealed in an Israel Channel 12 investigation which included an incident that a woman alleges happened in June 2020.

“He told me, ‘Make yourself comfortable, take off your clothes’. I thought he was joking. I was sitting far away from him, on the edge of the couch. He asked me to come closer and tried to hug me, really grabbed me and did not let go,” the woman, who was 22 at the time, said.

The women included journalists and models who didn’t want to reveal their identities. They say they were stopped from having professional access to the 66-year-old after rebuffing him and also alleged his actions were an open secret in the industry.

Grant, who also took charge of West Ham and Portsmouth, responded to the accusations saying he never intended to “behave unfairly or in any way harm any woman”.

He said: “In my life, both in a personal and professional capacity, I have always sought, above and beyond any successes or achievements, to prioritize staying a human being and to respect every woman or man, whoever they may be.

“I am a people person, a man of friendships. And over the years I have maintained relationships with women. In all these relationships I have tried very hard to treat them with respect and friendship and I never intended to behave unfairly or in any way harm any woman. Anyone who has felt uncomfortable or hurt by me, I regret it and apologize from the bottom of my heart.”